


The Great Evasion

by Cruadal



Series: Snapshots [54]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Angst, Deviates From Canon, Drama, Family, Friendship, Gen, Implied Violence, Loss, Modern Era, Original Character(s), Post-Canon, Slice of Life, bad memories, relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-09-29
Packaged: 2018-04-23 22:03:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4894048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cruadal/pseuds/Cruadal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kai thought finding his mom after all these years would help, not hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Great Evasion

**Author's Note:**

> Comes immediately before 'Death by Liquid Sugar'.
> 
>  
> 
> Each chapter will carry individual warnings, if necessary, as well as the characters' ages at the time.
> 
> Will probably not be in chronological order for the most part, I write them as they hit me.

** Snapshot #54 **

Warning: See the list. ^^;

Ages: Kai - 20, 'Jem - 15, Eli - 19, Ronan - 17, Maya - ? 

  


  


"Do we really need more oranges? We have plenty at home."

"But _Kai_ , those're Radiant Garden oranges! These're- uh- where are we again?"

'Jem giggled at the confusion on Eli's face, gently guiding his hands back toward the baskets of fruit. 

"I think you're giving Kai a headache."

"I _know_ he's giving me a headache." Kai reached out and lightly flicked his friend in the head with a finger. Eli grinned, obediently dropping the oranges.

"But only a little one. If Soren were here, you'd have a migraine by now."

"That's not nice," Ronan commented from the next stall as he picked through potatoes in the village's market.

"True though!" Eli tossed back, moving to drape himself over the younger boy's shoulder. Ronan accepted this without complaint; pretty much everyone was used to Eli's touchy-feely habits by now.

"I'm kind of suspicious he wanted to stick around and help his uncle instead of coming with us, to be honest." Kai muttered, doing a quick count of the carrots he was holding. It was enough for the night, he guessed. He passed them to 'Jem, who went to pay. Today was the last day of a week long 'clearing session', as Eli was fond of calling it. Pop over the barrier, deal with any Heartless they found, pop back home. Kai had hoped doing it once a month would help alleviate some of the guilt he felt about settling into Eli's reality, and at first it had. Not so much lately.

A flash of silver caught his eye, and he froze. Dad?

No, the figure the hair belonged to was obviously a woman, even if her back was to him. Besides, silver wasn't uncommon. He was jumping at shadows again.

Except...

The way the woman moved was familiar. Too familiar. Heart pounding, Kai watched her weave easily through the crowd, leaving the market.

He knew that walk. The way she'd slipped between two people so quick it was almost like she barely needed the space at all.

" _Mom_." Kai breathed, and without thinking, headed after her.

"Kai? Hey, where're you going?"

Eli's voice barely registered with him, he was so intent on making sure he didn't lose sight of her. After all this time, all the worlds he'd been to, the looking he'd done, the worry...She was _here_. She was here and he could've missed her.

She was heading for the edge of the village, and he picked up the pace, suddenly terrified. Did she still use the Corridors? What if she warped away and he never-

"Hey!" He called, hoping she'd recognize his voice and turn around. But how would she? He'd been a kid when she'd vanished. If anything, the sound of his voice seemed to spook her. She paused for a second, then made as if to run-

" **MOM!** "

She stopped dead, long enough for him to reach her; then she turned and it _was_ her. A little older, obviously, but the same long silver hair, a shade paler than his, the same dark green eyes. He barely registered her shocked expression before he threw himself on her in a hug. He didn't care if he was twenty years old and supposedly an adult; he'd barely been nine when she went missing and that child had missed her.

"...Kai?"

She wasn't hugging him back, and he began to pull away. Maya let out an exasperated sigh and suddenly she was almost squishing him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

A relieved laugh escaped him as he hugged her tightly.

"I've _missed_ you. Where've you been? Have you been here all this time? What happened? Who took you? It wasn't Sedge, the guy's an ass and he would've bragged if-"

His babbling ceased as Maya pried herself loose, glancing around them apprehensively. 

"Don't say that name. I swear he's like a bad penny-"

She broke off, staring over his shoulder. Kai glanced back to see that the others had caught up, groceries in hand, and they all looked about as shocked as he felt. He managed a smile, gesturing to her. 

"Guys, my mom. Mom, this is my family. 'Jem, Eli, and-"

Maya was still staring; not at the group as a whole, but at Ronan in particular. 

"I shouldn't be surprised that He got around. I feel sorry for your mother."

" _Mom_!"

Kai scowled, stepping away. "Don't say crap like that to him! Ronan's not-"

"Anything like him?" Maya cut in, looking the younger boy over again. "I'd hope not, if you've let him get this close to you."

Ronan cringed, moving to stand behind Eli and out of Maya's sight. Kai's joy at seeing his mom was quickly evaporating, anger taking it's place. Ronan had come so far in the last few years, and that one movement was all too reminiscent of the damaged boy he'd been.

They'd fought too hard to pull him away from the Darkness Sedge had nearly dragged him into. Kai couldn't let his mom's stupid shit push him back.

" _Don't_ , mom. Don't _ever_ talk about him like that again. He hasn't done anything wrong. If you're going to blame him for being Sedge's son, you'd better start blaming me too."

Surprise flashed across her face, and Maya nodded, looking past him to where the top of Ronan's head could barely be seen behind Eli's shoulder.

"...I'm sorry."

She didn't sound very sincere, but at least she was saying it. 'Sorry' wasn't a word that came to his mom easily. 'Jem, who'd moved to stand next to Ronan as if to guard him, leaned closer, listening, then relayed the message.

"He says it's okay." 

Kai rubbed at the bridge of his nose in frustration. The hell it was.

"So are you going to tell me what happened, or what?"

Again, that fear-tinged glance around, and Maya shook her head.

"Not out here. Come on."

She turned away and continued down the path. Kai was tempted to grab onto her sleeve to keep from losing her, but settled for keeping her in his sight. He trusted Eli to keep up with 'Jem and Ronan.

The house she led them to was set a little bit away from the others, a one story with faded bricks and bright flowers growing in the yard. It wasn't something he'd ever have pictured her living in, but he guessed Sedge wouldn't have given it a second thought either. Maya ushered them into the house quickly, locking the door as soon as they were all inside. As much as he wanted to launch right into questioning her again, he couldn't help but look around. 

Everything was neat, the furniture mostly made of a heavy, dark wood. There were two chairs at the small table near the kitchen, and a couch that looked maybe big enough to sleep on if you curled up. A little square table was squeezed in next to it on the far side. The fireplace looked as though it hadn't been used in ages, and two doors opened off a hallway. The place was small, but livable. The others hovered awkwardly near the front door while Maya dropped into one of the chairs. Kai stood by the couch, arms crossed.

All right. From the beginning.

"Who kidnapped you? How'd you get away? Are they still around here someplace?"

Because he was going to kill them.

Maya flinched, but it was barely perceptible. 

"About that...No one kidnapped me. I left on my own."

Kai stood frozen, the words sinking in slowly. Left on her own...She'd done it on purpose? Without being forced, or manipulated, she'd just-

He remembered telling himself over and over as a kid that something terrible _had_ to have happened to her, because the idea that she'd left him willingly was a thousand times worse. And now-

"Bullshit. You wouldn't have left me. Especially not in the middle of the night, with no explanation or warning to dad or uncle Sora! You would've at least told aunt Kairi!"

"...I had my reasons."

Silence fell. Kai shook his head, trying to force his next words out.

"...Why, then. _Why_ did you go? Do you have any idea what that was like, waking up from a nightmare calling for you, and you never came? Being alone in that apartment in the dark for hours, too scared to get up to turn on a light in case something got me? I moved in with dad and uncle Sora and aunt Kairi because there was nowhere else to go, and slept in dad's room against the wall for a year because I was terrified that whatever took you would come back for him. Were your _reasons_ worth putting me through that?"

Maya watched him in silence, biting her lip absently. Then, so softly he almost missed it:

"I did it to protect you from your father."

Kai's stomach dropped.

"What?"

He was pretty sure she knew he was asking her to expand on that, not repeat it, but she did so anyway, raising her voice so all of them could hear.

"I did it to protect you from your father. The last thing I needed- _you_ needed - was him finding me again and learning you existed...but since you mentioned him earlier..."

She trailed off, and Kai let his arms fall, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

"Yeah, we've met. He's not so happy that I take after you."

A faint smile touched his mom's lips at that. "You always were more mine than his. I'm glad it hasn't changed."

"You really sure about that?" The urge to be childishly spiteful was hard to ignore. "Eleven years is a long time. How do you know _I_ haven't changed? Maybe I don't think the way he does things is so bad."

" **Kai!** "

The outburst came from Eli, and he ignored him. The stricken expression on his mom's face was almost satisfying...and making him sick too, he realized.

"I'm sorry," He mumbled, his gaze dropping to the floor. "That was a crappy thing to say."

"You always were a brat." Maya replied after a moment's silence, her voice strained. Kai lifted his head enough to watch her through his bangs.

"You're just as immature as I remember."

He felt bad saying that, too, but it was true. Maya let out an exasperated huff.

"This is what I get for leaving you with Riku, I guess." 

"He didn't do so bad...None of them did. Mom...have you always been here? Or-" Kai tugged a hand free to gesture absently. "How were you getting around? Not the Corridors? Dad said you stopped."

His dad had said a lot of things, and Kai was beginning to wonder how much had been true. Had they figured things out, all those years ago, and just kept it from him?

He didn't want to think about it.

His mom made a face, obviously not wanting to answer. The reply was short.

"Here, no. I've never stayed anywhere longer than a few months. It wasn't safe. This place, about two years."

"...So what makes this world so much safer? And what about the Corridors?"

"That's not important. Listen, Kai-"

"No!" It came out as a shout. "It _is_ important! All of this is important and you're hiding from me! I'm not Sedge! Stop being afraid I'll use the truth against you!"

"I'll tell you what you need to know when you need to know it." Maya snapped. "Right now it's none of your business."

"None of my-"

He was at a loss on how to respond to that without a string of curse words involved, and Eli's voice slipped into the silence.

"Uh...Kai...this isn't- we shouldn't be here. You guys...we'll be outside, okay?"

He didn't bother to look back at the sound of the door opening and three sets of footsteps shuffling out. The door closed with a quiet click. He waited, taking in a breath and letting it out slowly. None of his-

Okay. Fine.

"If you don't want to tell me anything important, then I'll just share some of what's been going on with me. I got a Keyblade."

Maya paled suddenly.

"I made Riku promise not to, damn it!"

Kai felt as though the floor had just disappeared from beneath his feet. Made him-

"You made- No. It wasn't him. Or uncle Sora, or aunt Kairi either. I don't know... 'Jem's village-"

He broke off, his thoughts going in too many directions at once. She'd made his dad promise not to pass it on. Neither his aunt or uncle had ever let him actually _touch_ their Keyblades, which as a kid he'd chalked up to a grown-up thing. 'Don't touch, you might break it' or something equally stupid. But hearing this, 'Jem's theory from last year suddenly seemed a lot more likely. He'd thought finding his mom would answer all the questions he had, but it was only creating more.

"I have to go," He found himself saying. He had to step back and _think_ , because this, right now, wasn't going to work. Maya didn't object; her only response was a quiet "Be careful".

Kai laughed, and it was hollow-sounding.

"As careful as I ever am."

He wanted to hug her, wanted to ask her to come back with them, wanted...

Wanted to not be a coward. Instead he turned and let himself out of the house in a hurry, striding across the yard to where the others waited. Whatever quiet conversation had been in progress broke off as Eli stared at him, eyes wide.

"Kai-"

"We're going. We're done here."

"But your mom-"

Kai shrugged, not trusting himself to say anything. Eli closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, he was shaking his head.

"No Corridors. You're too...chaotic. You'll get us lost."

Kai frowned at him. He would _not_. "Getting lost in the Corridors is for amateurs."

Ronan made a soft noise of disagreement, and he raised a hand. "Sorry, Ro. I'm fine, Eli."

"You're _not_." His friend protested. "You're upset and twisted and _confused_ , and it's just spiraling out, so I'll use the Light Corridors to get us home."

Kai rolled his eyes. Sometimes he hated when Eli did this. "Thank your mom for the empath crap yet?"

Instead of being insulted, Eli only grinned. "Lots of times. Worried I can't do it?"

"Some. I thought aunt Ray was still teaching you."

"Well, she _is_ , but I've got the bracelet."

He held up his left hand briefly; the sunlight glinted off the silver. 'Jem came up and slipped her hand into Kai's, squeezing gently. He squeezed back, then glanced at his brother when he cleared his throat.

"Um....why don't we just find someplace to camp tonight, like we were planning, and leave in the morning?" Ronan gave his brother a sympathetic look. "I know you'd rather not, and _I'd_ kind of rather not, but if neither of you trusts the other to get us home, it might be the best option at the moment."

Ronan was right; Kai didn't want to stay another ten minutes, let alone another night, but if Eli felt so sure about it...

The way he was feeling, he'd probably land them right in the middle of a canyon of Heartless.

"...Okay. Let's go find somewhere to settle down. We're out of here first thing though."

"Dawn." Ronan promised, and switching the bag of groceries to his other hand, took Kai's left before the group set off.


End file.
